Coronavirus is accelerating the demise of coal power in the US [View all]

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First, it was oil and gas. Now coal is facing a financial cataclysm.

As the coronavirus crushes energy demand around the world, the bottom has fallen out from under an already weak coal industry. Moody’s Investors Services recently warned coal firms are facing a wave of bankruptcies—with few ways out.

Declining coal use by utilities has reduced consumption by almost 40% since 2001. Exports, a rare bright spot, have risen only slightly. Adding to the sector’s woes, financial institutions’ new environmental, social, and governance policies (ESG) are restricting capital to high-emitting industries such as coal.

That combination, said Moody’s in a March 26 research report, “will likely push a significant amount of coal capacity into bankruptcies and lead to new closure announcements over the next year or two.” Since 2016, at least 11 coal companies have already declared bankruptcies.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/coronavirus-is-accelerating-the-demise-of-coal-power-in-the-us/ar-BB120mc7?li=BBnbfcN